Relational database management system and method of operation

ABSTRACT

A method of operating a database of records. The method includes providing an internet web site containing selected information, and providing a computer containing the database. Each record of the database is associated with each of a number of contacts. An identifying code is generated for each contact, and is transmitted to each contact. When a contact attempts to access the website, the contact is asked to input the code. In response to entry of the code, access is provided to a selected portion of the selected information.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to database systems, and more particularly tointernet-based systems for direct marketing contact management andservicing.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Direct mail and internet web-based marketing techniques have beencombined by companies sending advertising correspondence including a webaddress or URL. This enables interested recipients to visit a web pageassociated with the company or product, gaining more detailedinformation, and possibly requesting additional material to be mailed.Such web sites may require that a visitor enter personal addressinformation, either to gain entry, or to enable additional mailings tobe sent. Such information may also be used to enable a sales person forthe company to contact the recipient.

When personal information is entered, the user's visit to the web sitemay be recorded, including time spent at different pages, to indicateparticular product interests. However, requiring the entry of personalinformation is undesirable for several reasons. Desired cross checkingwith existing database records may be difficult due to the differentformatting, spelling, and other errors that may lead to duplicaterecords. Also, requiring the entry of personal information isundesirable to some users who wish to preserve privacy. This may leadsome potential customers not to visit the web site, or to enterincorrect address information.

Permitting anonymous use of a web site may lead to more visitors, butdoes not provide the operator with information about who has visited.Such systems record only the number of “hits” or visits to a web page,but not useful contact information, or interests indicated by use of theweb pages. Anonymous systems may indicate what are popular areas of aweb site, but not the particular interests or needs of a particular,identifiable user to guide future marketing efforts.

Other traditional marketing systems have additional disadvantages. Forinstance, a reader response card from a magazine might provide usefulfeedback to a company or publisher which products or advertisers are ofsufficient interest to merit sending detailed product information.However, such procedures involve appreciable delay between mailing ofthe card, and receipt of the requested information, particularly if theinformation is bundled for mailing only at intervals.

The embodiment disclosed herein overcomes these disadvantages byproviding a method of operating a database of records. The methodincludes providing an internet web site containing selected information,and providing a computer containing the database. Each record of thedatabase is associated with each of a number of contacts. An identifyingcode is generated for each contact, and is transmitted to each contact.When a contact attempts to access the website, the contact is asked toinput the code. In response to entry of the code, access is provided toa selected portion of the selected information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a computer system according to a preferredembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a database according to the embodiment ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operation of thepreferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a computer system 10 including an internet server 12, andfirst and second company servers 14, 16 connected to the internetserver. The internet server is considered symbolically as representingthe entirety of the internet, which actually includes a multitude ofsuch interconnected computers at different locations. A customer'scomputer 20 is also connected to the internet server 12, typically via atelephone connection 22.

The first company server is connected to a printer 24, which imprintsinformation on a written correspondence such as a direct mailingadvertising document 26. The first company server 14 has a memory devicethat contains a database 30 of records 32 as shown in FIG. 2. Eachrecord represents a customer or contact, and includes numerous fields,including name, address, and other contact information, as well as otherdata fields used for marketing information that may be analyzed toassess that customer's possible purchasing interests and prospects forfurther marketing efforts. The records may be modified or augmented withadditional data as discussed below.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the company server 14 may be replaced byseveral different computers, any of which may be separately connected tothe internet or to each other, and any of which interconnections may bereplaced by transferring data on a data storage media such as a magneticdisc. Such data transfer capabilities shall for the purposes of thisapplication be considered a “connection.” Although the company server 14is shown as driving the printer 24, the printer may be a high volumeaddressing system, using pre-printed advertising media, operated by aseparate computer. Also, while the several computers are shown asconnected to an internet server 12, the invention may be embodied in anyarrangement of computers, data transmission, or telecommunicationtransmission devices or media.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method of operating the database system, includingmethods for communication between various parties. Initially, thecompany has a customer database 30 as shown in FIG. 2, which may includea minimum basic mailing or email address information, along with aunique PIN (personal identification number) code. The PIN may be anystring of alphanumeric characters. Preferably, the database is drawnfrom a source selectively including promising potential customers as thelisted contacts. Ideally, the database will have fields indicating thepotential product interests of the contacts, such as which types of thecompany's products are likely to be of greater interest, whether thecontact is an individual or corporate purchaser, whether the contact hasexpressed a prior interest from a reader response card, whether thecontact has made prior purchases from the company, among an unlimitedrange of other possibilities providing a qualitative or quantitativeevaluation of the contact as a customer. Just as an expert sales personkeeps a written and mental list of the interests and priorities of hisor her best customers in order to customize sales discussions to makebest use of the customer's time, the database contains all availableinformation to provide focused and useful marketing efforts.

With the database in place, the company prepares a direct mailing orother communication. The mailing is preprinted, with all copiesidentical, except for a blanks for address information and PIN number oneach mailing. The mailing likely includes a range of different productsor services, particularly in view of the likelihood that the databaseincludes contacts of uncertain needs. For instance, if the company ismarketing high speed laser printers, the database might include printshops, corporate and government document managers, and other entitieslikely to need such equipment. It may be uncertain what type of producteach contact needs, since the print volume and other factors are not inthe database. Thus, a wide range of copiers having different printvolume capacities might be advertised. The mailing includes aninvitation to visit the company's web site, as well as identifying theweb address for the site.

To simplify manual entry of the web address for the customer, thecompany's brief main address or primary domain name may be used. Insteadof a long string such as“www.xyzcompany.com/customerinfo/products/printers/laser/highspeed/1000series.htm”,the mailing would have a brief web address such as “www.xyzinfo.com”.

The contacts to whom the mailing is suited are selected from thedatabase, and their address and PIN numbers printed on the mailings byprinter 24, which may be connected to the main server 14, or any othercompany computer containing the database. Upon receipt, the interestedcustomer would visit the web site by typing the simple web address. Thisprovides access to the initial welcome screen of the company's web page,which prompts the customer to enter the PIN number. When the PIN isentered, the server, which contains the database, searches the databasefor the record associated with the PIN. If the server finds a match forthe PIN, it then identifies the mailing that was sent out with this pinto deter. (Note that a customer receiving more than one differentmailing would likely have different PIN numbers for each mailing.)

In the simple case in which all mailing recipients are to be treated thesame, a second welcome page associated with the probable interests ofthe mailing recipients is transmitted. In more sophisticatedapplications, each PIN and record may be pre-categorized into one ofseveral different possible marketing strategies (e.g. for corporate,government, academic, and individual customers), with thepre-established web page being transmitted after the category isidentified based on the PIN number entry. A still more sophisticatedanalysis may be made at the time of access by the customer, withtransmissions to the customer being further customized based oninformation gleaned based on the time of access, the site or phonenumber from which access is made, or by other information transmitted ormade implicit by the initial contact by the customer. If thisinformation is collected, it is stored to the database to update thecustomer's record. If a valid PIN number is not entered, a visitor tothe web page is invited to register by providing contact information,and a record is added to the illustrated database, or to anotherdatabase of potential customers.

The second welcome page may include a personalized greeting, and mayprovide the opportunity to correct or update the customer's information.Such information is sometimes best gathered by providing a pleasantincentive to the customer, such as by offering entry in a contest for aprize, or future discounts. This is because many customers wouldotherwise prefer not to spend the time or to make personal disclosures.The second welcome page provides the opportunity to access informationabout other of the company's products, but is designed primarily tofocus on the products in which the customer is most likely to beinterested.

In a basic form, the customer may then be left to select information andother web pages based on his or her own interests and needs, potentiallyleading to a request for more mailed information or to a call from ormeeting with a sales person. All information about which pages thecustomer viewed, for how long, and other aspects of the visit may berecorded in the database to provide an improved picture of thecustomer's interests.

In a more sophisticated form, the server may gather more informationabout the customer by soliciting additional inputs by the customer. Todo this, incentives are preferably provided. For instance, the customermay be presented with the opportunity to have the company's softwaredetermine what capacity of printer the customer might require. The webpage presents a questionnaire for the customer to input the nature,quantity, and frequency of different types and sizes of copy or printingjobs in his or her operation. Software operating in the server analyzeswhat types of printers would be suitable, and advises the customer.Further information may be provided to and collected from the customerbased on this advice and on the customer's browsing activities.Meanwhile, the database is updated with this very useful information.

After the customer has finished his browsing of the company's web site,the database record is reanalyzed to determine what action is required.Alternative actions may include mailing or emailing of information, ortransmission of an advisory message to a sales person connected to thecompany's second server 16. Preferably, in response to a customerdemonstrating substantial interest in a product, an email isautomatically generated and sent to the appropriate sales person, asdetermined by rules stored in the system, with a report based on thecustomer's updated database record. The sales person may thenimmediately call the customer to offer more information or to schedule ameeting. The analysis of the customer's record to determine action maysimply involve sending information if the customer spent more than agiven amount of time actively viewing web pages about given products, ormay involve a more complex analysis. For instance, if the customerprovided significant new information voluntarily, a sales call may begenerated. However, if the customer entered information indicating thathe or she was not suited to any of the company's products, furtherefforts might be avoided, conserving marketing resources.

While the disclosure is made in terms of a preferred embodiment, theinvention is not intended to be so limited. For instance, the discussedweb servers and database may be maintained and operated by a marketingcompany separate from the company producing the products or servicesbeing marketed. Also, the product examples given are one basic example,while there need be no limitation on the range of products and servicescovered.

What is clamed is:
 1. A database and marketing management systemcomprising: a computer having a memory device; a database stored in thememory device and having a plurality of records, each record includingan associated identifying code and a data set associated with a contactthe identifying code and data set being categorized into one of severaldifferent marketing strategies; a printer connected to the computer andoperable to print the code and at least some of the data set on acorrespondence document; an internet connection operably connecting thecomputer to a communication system accessible by the contact; and thecomputer being operable in response to entry of the code by the contactto provide selected information to the contact such selected informationcorresponding to be categorized marketing strategy; wherein the computeris operable to collect information from the contact; and wherein thecomputer is operable to transmit the collected information to a selectedthird party for use in selectively servicing the contact.
 2. The systemof claim 1 wherein the computer is operable to modify the record inresponse to information collected from the contact.
 3. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the computer is operable to evaluate the informationcollected from the contact.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein thecorrespondence document includes a web address associated with thecomputer.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the collected informationincludes information gleaned based on the time of access.
 6. The systemof claim 1 wherein the collected information includes informationgleaned based on a site from which access is made.
 7. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the collected information includes information gleanedbased on a telephone number from which access is made.
 8. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the collected information includes information gleanedbased on predetermined information transmitted by an initial sessionwith the contact.
 9. The system of claim 1 wherein the collectedinformation includes information gleaned based on predeterminedinformation made implicit by an initial session with the contact. 10.The system of claim 1 wherein the associated code and the data set areprecategorized into one of several different predetermined marketingstrategies.
 11. The system of claim 1 wherein collecting informationfrom the contact is gathered by providing an incentive to the contact.12. A method of providing access to an internet web site comprising:providing a web site containing selected information; providing acomputer containing a database of a plurality of records, each recordassociated with a contact of a plurality of contacts; generating anidentifying code for each contact, the identifying code beingcategorized into one of several different marketing strategies;transmitting the code and a web address associated with the web site toat least one of the contacts; in response to attempted access of the website by a contact, querying the contact for the code; in response toentry of the code, providing access to a selected potion of the selectedinformation in accordance with the marketing strategy associated withthe code.
 13. The method of claim 12 including modifying the record toinclude information associated with the contact's access to the website.
 14. The method of claim 13 including querying the contact foradditional selected information and modifying the record to include theinformation.
 15. The method of claim 13 including evaluating the contactin response to the information associated with the contact's access. 16.The method of claim 13 including transmitting information to a thirdparty regarding the information associated with the contact's access.17. The method of claim 12 including printing the code on acorrespondence directed to the contact.
 18. The method of claim 17wherein the correspondence includes a web address associated with theweb site.
 19. A database and marketing management system comprising: acomputer having a memory device; a database stored in the memory deviceand having a plurality of records, each record including an associatedidentifying code and a data set associated with a contact; a printerconnected to the computer and operable to print the code and at leastsome of the data set on a correspondence document; an internetconnection operably connecting the computer to a communication systemaccessible by the contact; and the computer being operable in responseto entry of the code by the contact to provide selected information tothe contact; wherein the computer is operable to collect informationfrom the contact the collected information including information gleanedbased on predetermined information transmitted to the computer during asession with the contact; and wherein the computer is operable totransmit the collected information to a selected third party.